The commander of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF), Lieutenant Andrus Merilo, said that the entry of Russian drones into Polish airspace was most likely no accident, ERR News reports.
A significant number of Russian “Shaded” drones entered Polish airspace on the night of the 10th of September. While this is not the first time that Russia has violated the airspace of not only Poland, but also Lithuania, Latvia and Romania, Poland’s response by shooting down the drones is the first time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine that a NATO country has used force against Russian aircraft.
Merilo said that, in any case, it is unlikely that the airspace violation was accidental, and added that Poland’s response was appropriate and legal. The lieutenant said that all the decisions made were correct.
Merilo explained that Russia is deliberately and deliberately escalating the situation and testing how far it can go. It is possible that the incident is related to the military exercises Zapad.
Asked whether the security situation in the region has changed, Merilo replied that
the war on European soil has been going on for four years, and there is always a possibility that an escalation will follow:
“We have seen the spillover of war effects across borders, including an attack drone landing on Estonian territory. And today, what is happening in Poland is a clear example that this war can indeed come across the usual borders at any random moment.”
The EDF commander said that Estonia and its allies are at a high level of readiness, and are paying attention to anything that could indicate a possible development of events. “In any case, what has been happening is a very clear and forceful reaction and let us call it correctly – this is Russian aggression, this time it is taking place on NATO territory,” Merilo said. He added that Estonia would also act similarly to Poland.
The lieutenant explained that since Estonia is not at war, we must first be absolutely sure that the object that entered the airspace is a Russian drone: “We are in peacetime; in our airspace normal air traffic is taking place, so we cannot simply start shooting at random at objects flying in the air. ” There are specially developed procedures for this, but everything depends on the ability to spot drones, which are essentially designed to evade air defense systems.
Merilo’s predecessor, General Martin Herem, wrote on social networks that Poland was not a deliberate target. Meanwhile, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, has stated that the drones’ entry into Polish airspace was intentional.
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